Sunday, March 23, 2008

Bangkok - Day 3

We had reserved Day 3 for the famous Chatuchak (also known as Jatujak) market, which is one of the largest weekend markets in the world. Viv was to fly off in the afternoon so we decided to have another "quick breakfast" and maximise the time at the market.

This time, I remembered to bring my camera down to take pictures of the breakfast.

Yum! This picture is bringing back memories of the pomelos and mangos!

And finally, I took pictures of the policemen too. As expected, these were not the hot ones we had seen the day before.

Viv has a funny expression (again!) while I look delighted after the breakfast.

Shub and Pizzadude trying to figure out the best way to get to Chatuchak, which incidentally was out of this map!

Turns out the skytrain was the best way to get there.

Front of the skytrain card

Back of the card with the route map (the Singapore MRT cards so need the route on the back too!)

We got a guy in the train to take a picture of us.

Interesting sign in the train

Check out the amazing row of colourful cabs near Chatuchak market! I took this from the bridge leading from the train station to the market.

The amazing market covers over 35 acres (1.13 km²), with more 15,000 stalls selling anything from clothes to poultry! It is estimated that the market receives between 200,000 and 300,000 visitors each day.

A typical lane or soi in the market. There were like a hundred thousand such sois and you need at least two days if you want to walk through each of them!

Me and my stash, comprising three spaghetti strap tops, one T-shirt, two floral dresses, two skirts, a pair of shoes, a pair of slippers and a swimsuit for Baby Aish's second birthday. Ladies and gentlemen, I was broke!

These eggs looked a bit strange, especially the yellow bits popping out of them, which didn't really look like yolk.

The 'no labal' stuff seemed suspiciously cheap!

Apparently, pick-pocketing is common in the market. In fact, I got scolded by a shop owner for not carrying my bag properly.

Raw mangoes

After spending pretty much everything we had on us, the four of us joined forces at the clock tower. This landmark, built to celebrate the sixth anniversary of the king, serves as the meeting place for lost souls who have wandered off from their groups in search of wares.

We were absolutely starving by then, and went back for lunch. Viv was to take off right after lunch.

Lunch was at this small restaurant near the Bangrak market.

This was the yummiest green curry ever!

Stir-fried vegetables - love how they retain the colour even after cooking!

The feast - before!

The feast - after!

Viv packed his stuff, including his cricket kit, and set off for the airport. Suddenly, I remembered reading somewhere about airport tax, and we called the hotel reception to check. Turns out it was a whopping 800 Baht per person! We were horrified. Quick checks revealed that we definitely did not have enough money to shop and pay the airport tax. We decided to have a really cheap dinner to make ends meet.

Shub, Pizzadude and I decided to do some stupid tourist behaviour and dress alike - in black and denim.

Check out the trio - (beaten) black and blue?

We boarded the train again and set off for Sukhumvit, one of the four highways in Bangkok, also popular for shopping. Just then, Viv messaged from the airport saying there was no airport tax. WHEW! The three of us actually high-fived in the train!

Motorcyclist on road next to the station

The skytrain - very similar to Singapore's MRT

Chit Lom station

Another poster of the king

Sukhumvit turned out to be quite disappointing. We didn't find any good shopping or massage places, so decided to head to the Siam Paragon Mall.

Siam Paragon mall

Nice view outside the mall

The dress-alikes!

Check out this guy's pet - it's a boar!!!

Siam Paragon turned out to be like any mall in Singapore so we decided to explore the area around it.

A shop called Flu?!

In search of a snack, we entered a doughnut place,

Songkran special doughnuts! Songkran is the Thai New Year, similar to Holi, but people throw water on each other instead of colours.

We walked an unbelievable distance trying to find a foot massage place, but were unsuccessful. Finally, we decided to go back and try the places near our hotel.

The BTS ticket vending machine

We found a massage place near our hotel and bargained to get the foot massages down from 250 Baht to 200 Baht each. Shub and I also wanted to do a last round of shopping at Bangrak so we told the masseuse we'd come back later. Pizzadude went back to the hotel to relax, while Shub and I shopped the hell out of Bangrak.

Finally, we went back to the massage place and had an amazing hour of foot, thigh and even shoulder massage!

Dinner was at the hotel itself, and was as yummy as the street food we'd been having in the last two days.

The next morning, we were up and out at 5 pm. The holiday had ended! :(

At the airport, while I stood in the queue, this tall lanky chap tapped me on the shoulder to ask me if I was in the queue. I said I was. Shub happened to notice a large bag he was carrying with 'DIGVIJAY SINGH' printed on it. We wondered if he was a celebrity sportsperson, but none of us was sure. We were even wondering if it was a fan of Vijay Singh who meant to write "I dig Vijay Singh' on his bag. Sheesh. (When I got home, I googled up Digvijay Singh, and yup, this was our guy.)

Picture taken just before landing in Singapore

Goodbye, Bangkok! I guess we won't ever be able to enjoy Thai food in Singapore the same way again! :)